The present invention relates generally to a wireless tracking network and, more specifically, to a system and method for using a wireless tracking network to communicate medical asset data.
Wireless tracking networks (WTN) enable a person or object located within a building or area to be located and tracked. A typical WTN uses a radio frequency (RF) transmitter, known as an RF tag, antennas, and a cell controller. The RF tag is attached to the object to be tracked. The antennas transmit an RF signal to the RF tag. The RF signal transmitted by the antennas is used by the RF tag to transmit a signal back to the antennas. The RF tag transmits its signal at a different frequency to enable the WTN to differentiate between the two signals. The signal transmitted by a transponder may include an identifier to enable the WTN to identify the specific RF tag providing the signal. One or more antennas may receive the signal from a RF tag. The antennas couple the re-transmitted signal to the cell controller. The cell controller calculates the time between when the signal was transmitted by the antenna and when the signal transmitted by the RF tag was received by the antenna. With this information, the distance from an antenna to the RF tag can be calculated. By calculating the distance of the RF tag from several different antennas, the WTN can identify the specific location of the RF tag, and, therefore, the person or object to be tracked.
When used in medical institutions, a WTN and RF tags are used to locate medical assets, such as wheelchairs, gurneys, and other pieces of moveable equipment within the medical institution. The WTN enables the medical institution to more effectively utilize it assets. This is especially desirable in locating assets, such as wheelchairs, that are moved frequently and deposited about the medical institution. The WTN and RF tags enable desired, or lost, assets to be located quickly and without having to resort to labor-intensive searches of the facility. Additionally, the WTN and RF tags enable the medical institution to maintain an optimal inventory of assets by enabling the medical institution to locate unused assets and put them into service.
In addition to the location of a specific asset, the WTN can be used to transmit other information about the asset. For example, RF tag systems can be configured to transmit operating information from an asset. However, each type of asset, typically, uses its own communication protocol, or data format, and each RF tag, or an interface associated with each tag, has been made to configure specifically with each of these assets. Moreover, the operating information that can be transmitted by the RF tag is fixed by the manufacturer at the time the RF tag is manufactured. An RF tag that could be sold by a manufacturer and configured by a system user to transmit asset data in a form desired by the system user has been unavailable. The present technique may address one or more of the problems set forth above.